Several top recruits to visit UK's Madness

Several top players planning to attend

By Jerry Tipton / jtipton@herald-leader.com

Coming up
Big Blue Madness
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Rupp Arena
TV: WKYT-27
Blue-White Game
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28
Where: Rupp Arena
TV: WKYT-27, FS South

Prospects compared to LeBron James, Jason Williams and Carmelo Anthony, plus an heir apparent to ballyhooed freshman John Wall.

The players expected to attend Kentucky's Big Blue Madness on Friday night inspire that kind of hyperbole from recruiting analysts.

Suffice to say new coach John Calipari hopes to continue the initial effort that netted UK the No. 1-rated class in the last recruiting season.

"Calipari is going after the right people to go after," said analyst Brick Oettinger of the Prep Stars recruiting service. "You can't get them all. But if you get two or three, you're going to compete for national championships year after year."

Although Calipari downplayed Madness as a recruiting tool during an appearance in Louisville last week, the list of prospects expected to attend suggests he sees the celebration as a prime opportunity to showcase Kentucky basketball.

The prospects include four players rated among the top 10 in either the high school classes of 2010 or 2011.

Michael Gilchrist, the No. 1 prospect in the high school class of 2011, plans to attend Big Blue Madness, his mother, Cynthia Richardson, confirmed in an e-mail on Wednesday.

Other top-10 national prospects expected to attend include forward Quincy Miller of Winston-Salem, N.C., (class of 2011), point guard Kyrie Irving of Elizabeth, N.J., (class of 2010) and forward Tobias Harris of Glen Head, N.Y. (class of 2010).

Other prospects expected for UK's Madness include senior forward C.J. Leslie, a top-15 player at Word of God Christian Academy in Raleigh, N.C., (Wall's alma mater); junior guard Achraf Yacoubou of Brookville, N.Y., and senior Stacey Poole Jr., of Jacksonville, Fla., who committed to UK earlier this fall.

Gilchrist, a 6-7 play-anywhere talent, causes the analysts to gush praise.

The combination of skill, muscle and intangibles caused Oettinger to note how an improved jump shot would make Gilchrist "not that far off from a LeBron James."

Evan Daniels of Scout.com called Gilchrist "probably the best player in America regardless of class."

Added Jerry Meyer of Rivals.com, "He's got all the factors you're looking for."

Harris fits the late-bloomer mold. A loss of 15 to 20 pounds transformed him into a much better athlete than previously projected.

"Suddenly, he's a guy to play either forward position and be a tough matchup," Oettinger said, meaning Harris could out-quick bigger forwards and overpower smaller front-line players. "He went from not in the top 50 to a likely McDonald's All-American choice."

Harris' versatility as a scoring forward made him a "Carmelo Anthony-esque type player," Meyer said.

The analysts liken Irving to former Duke guard Jason Williams, meaning a ball-handler and distributor who can also dominate a game as a scorer.Oettinger projected Irving as "John Wall's successor if he wants to go to Kentucky." But the analyst emphasized Duke's keen interest.

If Kentucky does not have the top group of prospects attending its Madness, then that distinction should go to Kansas, Meyer said.

The prospects expected at Kansas on Friday night include guard Josh Selby (a top-10 player in 2010) guard Bradley Beal (a top-10 player in 2011), wing Harrison Barnes (No. 1 in 2010), guard Doron Lamb (top 20 in 2010) and Josiah Turner (a guard in 2011 who originally committed to Arizona State and then re-opened his recruitment).